There are many ways that a product supplier may ship a product to a customer. For example, the supplier may ship the product by truck, train, ship, or airplane. Factors such as shipping distance, allowable transit time of the product, the nature of the product being shipped, and the cost of shipping the product affect the supplier's decision as to which shipping method to use. Some of these factors are not readily controllable by the supplier. For example, the distance between the supplier and a customer is relatively fixed, unless, of course, one of the parties changes location. The nature of the product is also relatively fixed. The nature of the product may determine the allowable transit time or how the product must be packaged for shipment. For example, if the supplier is shipping perishable products, the allowable transit time may be significantly less than for nonperishable products. Furthermore, a perishable product may require special packaging or shipping considerations, such as insulated containers or refrigeration. Another factor that is not entirely within the control of the supplier is the cost of shipping the product. While the supplier may choose the method of shipment that is to be used, the supplier must pay a rate that is set by a shipping merchant.
One factor that the supplier exercises a certain amount of control over is the allowable transit time of the product. In the case of perishable products, the allowable transit time becomes the time the supplier has to deliver the product before it spoils. The allowable transit time of certain perishable products, such as food for example, may be extended by freezing the product and shipping the product in a frozen condition. However, not all types of perishable food products can be shipped frozen. A customer may request that a perishable product, such as fresh seafood, not be frozen for shipment. In any event, whether or not the perishable product is frozen, the allowable transit time of the product may be increased if the product is protected from the potentially harmful effects of heat. One way to protect the perishable product from heat is to ship it in a refrigerated vault, such as in a refrigerated truck or refrigerated train car. However, refrigerated shipping usually increases the supplier's cost of shipping the product.
Another way to increase the allowable transit time of a perishable product is by packaging the product in an insulated container and shipping it in the insulated container. An insulated container, like a refrigerated vault, protects the product from the potentially harmful effects of heat. Insulated containers, such as insulated boxes, are commonly used to ship perishable products. Prior art insulated boxes are usually constructed of multiple layers of corrugated cardboard. This type of insulated container usually has a "box within a box" type of construction or a single box type of construction with multiple-layered walls. Insulated boxes of this sort achieve their insulating characteristics from dead air spaces within the corrugated cardboard used to construct the boxes.
Insulated cardboard boxes are popular in the shipping industry because they are inexpensive and relatively light weight. As a result, these insulated cardboard boxes help keep down shipping costs. Unfortunately, insulated cardboard boxes that rely solely upon the dead air spaces in the corrugated cardboard to achieve their insulating capability lose some of their insulating capacity when they become wet or when the cardboard is punctured. Wet cardboard conducts heat better than dry cardboard and allows the heat outside the box to warm the dead air in the spaces within the corrugated cardboard and, hence, warm up the product within the box. Any time the cardboard is punctured, such as with a knife or by a blow incurred during shipping, the insulating ability of the punctured dead air spaces are reduced. Unfortunately corrugated cardboard is easily punctured. In any event, with this type of insulated cardboard box, the wet or punctured cardboard reduces the allowable transit time of the product.
Another type of insulated container that has been successfully used in the prior art is made from a cardboard box and individual pieces of insulating material, such as styrofoam or other lightweight foam type of insulation. Usually, this type of insulated container is constructed by gluing the individual pieces of the insulating foam material to the interior surfaces of the cardboard box or by inserting separate foam pieces to insulate each container surface. This type of insulated container offers certain advantages over insulated containers made solely from corrugated cardboard. The foam type of insulating material generally has better insulating characteristics than single or multiple layers of corrugated cardboard. Additionally, foam type insulating materials are less affected by moisture than is cardboard. Typically, the foam pieces that are glued to the cardboard box, or inserted into the container, are thicker than the skin of the corrugated cardboard and, as a result, are more resistant to puncture than simple cardboard box construction. Furthermore, dead air spaces in the foam insulating material are smaller and more numerous than in corrugated cardboard and, as a result, the insulating ability of the foam material is less affected by small punctures. However, cutting the individual pieces of insulating foam and gluing them to the surfaces of a cardboard box or adding six separate foam panels to the container, requires a substantial amount of assembly time. Accordingly, this type of insulated container is usually more expensive to assemble than other types of insulated containers and, thereby, result in increased shipping costs.
An additional type of insulated container that has been successfully used in the prior art is made from form molded foam. Typically this type of insulated container is made from either expanded or extruded polystyrene and the foam provides the dimensional structure of the container as well as providing the insulative barrier. In some, but not all cases, an additional corrugated sleeve or telescoping box is used into which the form molded container is inserted to provide additional structural support. This type of insulated container provides the advantage of ease of assembly but requires a substantial amount of floor space and cubic volume to store and transport. Furthermore, this type of container results in an inordinately high freight cost in shipping the container from the manufacturing center or distribution center to the end user's operating location.
As can be readily appreciated from the foregoing discussion, there is a need for an affordable insulated shipping container, suitable for shipping perishable products, that is lightweight, easy to assemble, and moisture resistant. Additionally, such a container should require very little storage space when not being used for shipping. This invention is directed to an insulated container system that uses inexpensive cardboard box construction and a one-piece insulating foam liner to achieve these results.